nethackfandomcom-20200214-history
Monk
The monk is one of the player roles in NetHack. Monks are always human, and can be lawful, neutral or chaotic. He is a martial-artist conforming to the "Shaolin Monk" stereotype. From the guidebook: Monks are ascetics, who by rigorous practice of physical and mental disciplines have become capable of fighting as effectively without weapons as with. They wear no armor but make up for it with increased mobility. The Monk is a good choice for a player who wants to practice both magic and hand-to-hand combat, but isn't interested in using weapons. It is a good class with which to achieve conducts. Monks know all nonmagical armors from the start. Their special spell is restore ability. When crowned they get a spellbook of restore ability instead of the standard crowning sword. Starting Equipment *+2 leather gloves *+1 robe *a blessed spellbook, (equal chance of healing, protection or sleep) *a random scroll (not enchant weapon) *3 potions of healing (possibly blessed) *3 to 6 uncursed food rations *5 to 10 apples *5 to 10 oranges *3 to 6 fortune cookies *20% chance of an uncursed magic marker *8% chance of an oil lamp Intrinsics Monks start with the intrinsics See invisible, Sleep resistance and Speed. Monks gain intrinsics at these experience levels:http://www.steelypips.org/nethack/monk_faq.html * Level 3 : Poison resistance * Level 5 : Stealth * Level 7 : Warning * Level 9 : Searching * Level 11: Fire resistance * Level 13: Cold resistance * Level 15: Shock resistance * Level 17: Teleport control Code of conduct The things that make a monk unique are the penalties imposed for non-Monkish behavior: Vegetarianism Monks feel guilty about eating non-vegetarian food, and suffer a small alignment penalty (-1 alignment) for doing so. As compensation for this, they gain intrinsics rapidly as they level up. Most players of this role keep vegetarian conduct simply to avoid the penalty, although the penalty can be considered a fair price for getting otherwise tricky to find intrinsics, such as telepathy or disintegration resistance. No body armor, no shield Monks are penalized for wearing body armor (all armors and mails; this doesn't include robes, cloaks and shirts) with a -20 to-hit penalty. For a low-level Monk it is virtually impossible to hit while wearing body armor. Some players however start using them when reaching high level, dexterity and Luck. Wearing a shield makes a Monk incapable of dealing a "staggering blow" which reduces his abilities in martial-arts. Magic Monks are the only role other than Wizards that can achieve Basic skill in all magical schools. They can only attain Expert skill in the Healing school. A robe is extremely useful for a Monk because it gives them a massive bonus to spellcasting, twice that of what any other role gets with a robe. Even when taking into account base spellcasting penalties, they will still have a better total bonus with a robe than even a Wizard would. Skills Quest Rank titles The status line shows you to be one of the following ranks when you reach the specified experience level: *XL 1-2: Candidate *XL 3-5: Novice *XL 6-9: Initiate *XL 10-13: Student of Stones *XL 14-17: Student of Waters *XL 18-21: Student of Metals *XL 22-25: Student of Winds *XL 26-29: Student of Fire *XL 30: Master Strategy Weapons There is no actual penalty for using weapons; however, this can still be considered a restriction because Monks can attain proficiency in very few weapon skills, but can train up to Grand Master in martial arts. As a result, they deal more damage bare-handedly than using a weapon (with an exception for some powerful artifacts). Trying for a weaponless conduct is very popular for a monk. One good strategy would be to train the shuriken skill, as they are light and have damage comparable to daggers. Because they are rare, it may be worthwhile to spend an early wish on a large stack of them, and then bless them. Wielding them in order to increase their enchantment with a Scroll of Enchant Weapon will not break the weaponless conduct. If Shuriken are unavailable the next best option would be a blessed/enchanted crossbow with a large stack of blessed/enchanted bolts. The crossbow and bolts are generally abundant in the Mines, and you can train the skill while gathering the necessary supplies to improve the materials. If you would rather have a weapon that can be used both in melee and range, opt for a dwarvish spear over a quarterstaff or javelin if you can get one. These are fairly reliably found in the lower levels of the mines and do more damage than the other weapon options available to a monk. An elven spear is a good second choice, as it is almost as good as a dwarvish one. When looking for a spear, be advised that javelins will appear as "throwing spears" when unidentified, but use the javelin skill and not the spear skill. If training the skill in preparation for a dwarvish spear, avoid javelins. Slash'EM In Slash'EM, monks also have the largest number of techniques of any role. Most of these are martial arts-themed offensive moves that make the monk a more balanced role. {C}They recieve the Gauntlets of Defense as guaranteed first sacrifice gift, and afterwards the usual rules apply. Encyclopedia entry References External links * A Monk FAQ. Category:Roles